Escape from Furnace 1: Lockdown

by Alexander Gordon Smith

Prison Break meets Darren Shan in an unforgettable story of terror, evil and intrigue. Alexander Gordon Smith's cult teen series has been reissued with the bestselling US covers.

Beneath heaven is hell.
Beneath hell is Furnace.

When thirteen-year-old Alex is framed for murder, his life changes forever. Now he is an inmate in the Furnace Penitentiary - the toughest prison in the world for young offenders. A vast building sunk deep into the ground, there's one way in and no way out.

But rowdy inmates and sadistic guards are the least of Alex's problems. Every night an inmate is taken from his cell by guards and returned the next morning changed. Where are they taken and why are they returned covered with scars, acting as though they are not quite human?

In a desperate bid for freedom Alex discovers a horrifying truth - that the Furnace Penitentiary is a place of pure evil, a place where cruel experiments take place every day, where inmates are guinea pigs, where monsters make monsters, and where death is the least of your worries...

Action-packed, gritty and gruesome - this is the perfect read for thrill-hungry teenagers.

• ISBN10: 0571303412
• ISBN13: 9780571303410
• Publish Date: 1 August 2013 (first published 5 March 2009)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 6 December 2023
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Faber & Faber
• Edition: Main
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kelly]

http://www.divabooknerd.com/2014/01/escape-from-furnace-lockdown.html
Escape From Furnace: Lockdown was horrifically brilliant. It's probably one of the darkest young adult books I've read to date. It was enthralling, it sucked you in from the first chapter, and spat you out when you ended on the cliffhanger, and I loved every moment. There is no romance, no fluffy bunnies or rainbows of inspiration, it's pure suspense and horror and not for the faint of heart.

Alex is only thirteen, which is soon forgotten when you see what awaits him. Society labels those as young as ten as dangerous and it soon becomes clear that boys are being left to rot inside the prison who are innocent, and brought in under the same circumstances at Alex. All due to gangs of young boys who had massacred adults on a killing spree, society deemed all child crimes punishable by Furnace. It's horrific, in which most adults wouldn't survive. Alex, although he stole, broke and entered, was not guilty of murder. Furnace forces him to not only grow up, but he realises the life he was leading was no better than the gangs he now faces on the inside, a revelation too little too late.

If you're looking for something dark, gritty and utterly gripping, you won't be disappointed. Alexander Gordon Smith has created a brilliant and unique series that left me with my heart in my throat. I absolutely loved it. Be warned, it ends in a heart stopping cliffhanger, but luckily, the rest of the series has already been released.